By Jack Phillips
Contributing Writer
“Today” show anchor Savannah Guthrie has said she is offering a $1 million reward for information related to the location of her missing mother, Nancy Guthrie, as the search entered its 24th day on Tuesday.
“We still believe in a miracle. We still believe that she can come home,” Guthrie said in a short video on Instagram as she announced the reward but suggested that her mother may have already deceased.
“We also know she may be lost. She may already be gone. She may have already gone home to the Lord that she loves and is dancing in heaven with her mom and her dad and with her beloved brother,” Guthrie said.
Authorities believe Nancy Guthrie went missing from her Tucson, Arizona-area, home on Jan. 31 and was reported missing a day later. A crime scene was discovered at the woman’s home, said officials, adding they believe she was abducted. No suspects have been identified or arrests made in the case so far.
Officials have warned that the woman needs medication to live and that DNA testing has shown that the blood seen at the home belonged to Nancy Guthrie.
In a Tuesday morning post on X, the FBI confirmed the development, coming as the search for the 84-year-old woman reached its three-week mark over the past weekend. The $1 million reward would be given in addition to an FBI reward of $100,000 for information leading to an arrest or conviction.
“If you have firsthand knowledge of Nancy’s whereabouts or any information about where she may be located, please contact the FBI tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI,” the FBI said in the post on Tuesday.
The federal law enforcement agency also wrote that there have been a significant number of calls about the case and called on people to “please submit only serious and detailed fact-based information” instead of “well-wishes or case theories.”
“The tip line is not for personal messages to the Guthrie family,” the FBI stated.
Aside from the FBI and the Guthrie family, a Tucson-area crime stoppers organization also said that a reward of $102,500 is being offered in connection to the case, according to a post made by the group on Facebook on Feb. 19, coming after a $100,000 donation was made.
Earlier in February, the FBI released video footage and images of a masked male wearing gloves who was seen tampering with Nancy Guthrie’s doorbell camera. A glove that was found in connection to the case underwent DNA testing at the FBI’s national laboratory and produced no matches in the agency’s database, said the Pima County Sheriff’s Office.
Officials described the male seen in the video footage as having a medium build and standing between 5 feet, 9 inches, and 5 feet, 10 inches tall.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, in an interview published over the past weekend, said that the Guthrie case is still growing and vowed to find the woman.
“I think we’re getting a little closer to identifying some of the other articles, not just that backpack. Like the shoes, the pants, the shirt, or jacket,” he told NBC News, referring to a 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker backpack that was found in the case.
The sheriff also said that mixed DNA samples recovered in the case have posed challenges for investigators.
“The technology is moving so fast and in such a frenzy that they think some of this stuff will resolve itself just in a matter of weeks, months, or maybe a year,” he said.
